A World We Do Not Know
by Morgageb
Summary: When a mission gone wrong leaves the Ghost crew stranded and separated, they all must scramble to find their remaining crew members. Ezra is missing and Kanan is alone. Meanwhile, the reaming Ghost crew must confront a startling reality that none of them are prepared for. AU after season 1. I own nothing!


**Hi everyone! I have been working on this story sporadically for a while now and thought I would put it out there and see what people think. this story is inspired and by and written with permission of** **Shell-Shocked-NinjaTurtleGal** **. Any familiar elements you recognize in this story and hers are her ideas. thank you and I hope you enjoy!**

"This was _supposed_ to be a simple mission!" Ezra shouted, firing off another shot from his lightsaber blaster. He ducked back quickly as several return blast struck the spot he had just peeked his head up out of.

" _There're always supposed to be simple missions, kid_ ," Sabine shouted back over the comm. Ezra heard a few muted blasts in the background and as well as some curses. Sabine, Zeb, and Hera were under heavy fire from the Ties circling outside the Star Cruiser while he and Kanan were pinned down inside.

"Kid, head in the game!" His Master shouted from his left. He was crouched across the hall from Ezra, returning fire with his own blaster at the ever-growing number of troopers streaming into the hallway. He and Ezra had been cornered on their way back to the Phantom, which Kanan had left docked at an air lock in the rear of the ship.

It really was supposed to be a simple mission, but Ezra had learned that nothing with the crew of the _Ghost_ was ever simple. He and Kanan were supposed to take the _Phantom_ and use the air lock to slip inside unnoticed. Ezra would then make his way through the vents to the communications room, leave one of Sabine's long distance hack-device- _thingies_ in the vent, and then he and Kanan would make their way back to the _Phantom_ and get the Heck-out-of-Dodge before the Imperials had even knew they had been on board. Unfortunately, the Imperials had decided that today was the day they would do their job right. They had discovered the unauthorized opening and closing of one of the upper air locks and sounded the alarm, just as Ezra was turning on Sabine's device.

Kanan had _commed_ him immediately. " _Kid, get back here now, we gotta go_."

"Just a sec," Ezra had hissed back into his comm. He pressed the last button of the sequence Sabine had showed him and watched as the device unfolded and a red light started blinking slowly.

"Gotcha," he whispered.

Ezra quickly began to scuttle back through the vents towards his Master, the alarm ringing in his ears, amplified by the small space of the vents and starting to give him a headache. There was a small boom and the ship lurched to the right. Ezra tumbled into the side of the vents and cursed as he righted himself, feeling a large bruise forming on his upper forearm. The ship continued to be rocked by blasts from the outside, knocking Ezra around in the vents like a pebble in his shoe.

It took a moment for Ezra to center himself enough to put actual effort into finding where his Master was, and not just groping blindly. Ezra was still a little uncomfortable with reaching out to others this way, but it had gotten easier with Kanan. The fact that he trusted the man with his life helped some, but Ezra had depended on nobody but himself for so long; it was a hard habit to break, but he was trying. He sensed Kanan somewhere to his right, and followed the feeling through the vents.

Ezra caught a little of his Master's emotions-namely his worry-through the Force, and he brushed his mind up against his Master's, a silent confirmation that he was still alive. Kanan sent back an answering confirmation, settling some of Ezra's nerves.

Ezra reached the end of the vents and pried the grate off, slipping out into the hallway, not bothering to put back the grate. What was the point? The Empire already knew they were in the ship. He continued on foot, still using the Force to guide his way.

Finally, after several confusing twists and turns, he had rounded the last corner to see his Master crouched behind a half closed blaster door in the middle of a standoff with a small group of Imperial Troopers at the other end of the hall. The air was filled with blaster bolts from both sides and Ezra quickly dove for cover across from his Master. The air lock was between them and the group of Imperials, crouched behind their own half closed blaster door.

Ezra came back to the present when Kanan shouted over the noise in the crowded hallway,

"You go, I'll cover you!"

"Nice try!" Ezra shouted back. He flinched at the proximity of a blaster bolt. "This time, _you_ go, and _I'll_ cover you. You are not gonna sacrifice yourself again!"

Kana frowned at him. "We don't have time for this, Ezra!" he shouted, clearly annoyed at his Padawan's disobedience. He turned and fired over the door, managing to wing a few of the Imperials.

"Exactly!" Ezra shouted back, just as annoyed. "So get going!"

Kanan gave a sound of frustration, but decided it wasn't worth arguing about right now. It seemed his apprentice still didn't understand who the Master was and who the Padawan was. He fired a few pot shots into the crowd of troopers before leaping over the half closed door, and bee-lining for the air lock. He forced it open with a wave of his hand and took cover just inside.

"C'mon!" he shouted at Ezra. Before he could move, though, Ezra felt a warning through the Force. Instinctively, he turned and fired directly where the warning had come from. An Imperial trooper convulsed from the shock and collapsed, but was replaced by three more. A group of Troopers had snuck up behind him and now Ezra was cornered, stuck between a rock and a hard place.

It took Ezra's street smart mind less than a second to realize he couldn't fight here, and then he rushed the troopers. They were so taken by surprise that Ezra managed to break through their short line and escape down the hallway. They had no hope of keeping up with the small boy in a foot race, so Ezra only need to get far enough ahead of them to duck into another vent and hide.

He switched on his wrist _comm_ quickly, still running. "Kanan, theirs been a change of plans."

" _Ezra_ ," the warning was clear in his voice. Ezra could tell he was going to get it when they got back on the _Ghost_.

"You need to take the Phantom and-"

" _I am not leaving you!"_

"No, you're not," Ezra gave his trademark smirk, even though Kanan couldn't see it. "You're going to pick me up at the lower hanger."

There was silence over the comm for a second before, " _Kid, I swear if you're-"_

"Have a little faith in me, Master."

Ezra spotted his exit in the form of a small ground level vent that he pried open. He slipped inside and recovered the grate just as his pursuers rushed by, oblivious to his true location.

 _Stupid bucket heads_ , he smiled.

Ezra wedged his fingers in the little edges of the side of the vent and began to climb.

Kanan had just about had a heart attack when he saw those troopers sneak up on Ezra. Before he could call a warning though, the kid had turned and fired, Ezra's sensitivity to the force alerting him to the threat before it even was. Kanan was once again impressed by how intuitive Ezra was to the Force; it was probably the reason he had survived so long on the streets.

Kanan just about had another heart attack when Ezra charged the remaining troopers and kept running. He had barely disappeared around the nearest corner before a _ping_ sounded from Kanan's wrist _comm_.

" _Kanan, there's been a change of plans._ " Kanan could tell Ezra was still running from his breathing.

"Ezra," Kanan was going to kill the kid when he found him. Ezra was too much like him to be good for either of their sakes. He was gonna have to have talk with the kid when they got back to the _Ghost_.

" _You need to take the Phantom and_ -"

"I am not leaving you!" Kanan interrupted him. _Yup, defiantly too much like me_ , Kanan thought to himself.

" _No, you're not. You're going to pick me up at the lower hanger_."

Kanan took a second to lean around the wall and fire another few shots. "Kid, I swear if you're-" this time it was his turn to be interrupted.

" _Have a little faith in me, Master_." He could practically hear the smirk in the kid's voice, and then the _comm_ clicked off.

Kanan gave another growl of frustration. The kid was gonna turn him gray way before his time. Kanan stepped back until he was full behind the outer doors of the air lock and then slammed the door shut with another wave of his hand. Then for extra insurance, he shot the control panel to lock it. Assured that it would hold for at least a little while longer, Kanan turned to the _Phantom._

Kanan practically slid into the pilot's chair, flicking switches to disengage from the air lock and prepping the engines. He finally detached from the Cruiser and pulled away out into a veritable battle zone. Blasters were firing all around him, filing the air with noise and color to form an almost disorienting scene. Ties were swarming around like bees around a hive, all aiming at the little shuttle doing acrobatic movements that would make some of the best trick fighters jealous. The _Ghost_ was being expertly piloted by Hera while Sabine and Zeb returned fire from the forward and rear canons.

Almost immediately, a handful of Ties spotted the little shut and changed their target. Kanan managed a rather impressive evasive maneuver, sending the _Phantom_ barrel rolling away from the incoming Ties.

" _Specter one_ to _Specter two,_ come in _Specter two,_ " Kanan shouted into the ships _comm_ system. Blasters fired all around them, rocking the ship when a few lucky shots hit the shields.

" _This is Specter two. Was the mission a success?_ " Hera asked.

"Sorta; I have Ties all over me and I need them clear so I can go back and get Ezra from the lower hanger."

" _You left him!_ " Hera's fury was palpable, and Kanan decided to direct it where it was due.

"No, the kid left me! Now if you want me to go get him, get these Ties off of me."

In answer, the _Ghost_ pivoted mid flip and changed direction toward the _Phantom._ The _Ghost_ fired several shots that came close enough to skimming the hull Kanan could hear the shields humming in response. Kanan shook his head at the lot of them.

Something suddenly slammed into the side of the ship, shoving it violently to the side. All internal lights crashed immediately, along with the engines, plunging the interior of the ship into near darkness.

 _What was that?_ Kanan wondered.

Looking out the cockpit window, he could see Ties drifting about in open space just like him. So it hadn't been an isolated event then. Kanan tried the _comms_ , but they were completely unresponsive. He tried switching on the ships internal _comm_ , but he couldn't even get static from it. He tried his wrist _comm_ , too, just in case, but was met with the same result. Ducking down under the control panel, Kanan pulled a piece off to expose the intricate interweaving of wires beneath. Hera would kill him for messing with her ship, but she could only kill him if they were all okay, which he would find out as soon as the _comms_ were working again.

With a whir, Kanan heard the _comm_ click on.

 _"_ _-ector one! Please, come in Spector one! Are you there?_ " It was Hera, sounding borderline frantic. Kanan could hear her own alarms blaring front her station. Whatever had hit him hadn't seemed to have had the same effect on the _Ghost_ and her crew.

Kanan pushed out from the under the panel, just barely managing to catch the seat in his haste and pull himself back to the control panel. "Hera!" he shouted, forgetting about code names for the moment. "Are you guys all right?"

" _We're fine. Whatever that was didn't hit us as hard. Almost all the Ties are down, they're just floating there. Specter one, are you alright?"_

"Yeah, I'm fine, but power is down on the entire ship. I'm gonna try and get ahold of the kid as soon as I get the power up and running."

" _Copy that, Specter two out,"_ Hera's _comm_ clicked off less than a second later.

Kanan was back under the console almost before she finished, pulling on wires and checking attachments, trying to get the _Phantom's_ engines back on. All the while he was working, Kanan was trying to sense Ezra through the Force. He was only getting a vague sense from him, but it was enough to confirm Ezra was still alive, so that was a relief.

A brilliant flash lit up the entire cockpit, momentarily blinding Kanan even thought he was under the control panel. He hauled himself out of the tangle of wires he had wrapped himself in and looked out the cockpit window for the source. While he had been working on the _Phantom_ , the Imperial Star Cruiser had drifted into his line of sight again. Its starboard side was facing him and the entire thing was dark, all the lights out and the ship set adrift, just like the _Phantom_. Another blinding flash, this time blocked by the majority of the Cruisers bulk, lit up the little ship again.

When it cleared, Kanan was finally able to see what was causing it. A small, inky black spot glinted amongst the stars, only noticeable by its absence of light. Even so, Kanan had never felt more terrified of something before.

A black hole.

The Phantom gave a groan and seemed to tilt. The whole ship shuttered for a second, and then suddenly Kanan had the distinct impression of movement.

" _Kanan?!"_ Hera shouted over the comms as the Phantom gave another groan, louder this time.

"I'm being pulled in!" Kanan, yelled back. He flipped every switch he could think of to get the Phantom to respond, but the power was still down. Kanan watched as several of the closest Ties were dragged into the dark center of the space anomaly. The Phantom gave another groan, this one more like a screech as the metal hull began to feel the pressure of the gravity of the black hole.

"Hera, can you get the kid? The _Phantom's_ engines still aren't working."

" _Kan-….hear y-…"_ static overloaded the _Comm_ and it promptly died.

Kanan swore and looked up in time to see the Cruiser begin to collide with the black hole. The hull crumpled and began to fold in on itself, crunching down to a small enough size to fit into the black hole.

"Ezra!" Kanan shouted, both out loud over the broken comms, and across the force. More of the ship crumpled; it was now half of its original size.

Kanan felt a faint, pain-filled confirmation, and then Ezra's force signature disappeared, like a puff of smoke, right as the last of the cruiser's hull exploded into flames that were quickly swallowed by the black hole. He was gone.

"Ezra!" Kanan shouted again.

Another wave slammed into the wrecked hull of the _Phantom_ and Kanan blacked out.


End file.
